Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

foil transfer cards

Halloween Sweets with New Simon Says Stamp!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am ignoring the sweltering temperatures outside (that hopefully will abate in a day or two) and playing with some of the new Halloween goodies from the new Cheering For You release from Simon Says Stamp! I paired the traditional orange and black with some vivid cobalt blue in THIS post, and loved the unique combination so much that I used it again on this card using the new Spooky Sweets product suite! I am always up for ways in which I can make Halloween a little less gory and a little more fun, and what’s more fun than cupcakes? Let’s get started with the details!

To begin my card, I stamped three of the cupcakes in the Spooky Sweets set onto some Hammermill cardstock using Rainbow Splash Black ink. The Rainbow Splash Black ink is compatible with alcohol markers, so it’s great for using with OLO Markers, as I’ve done for these vibrant cupcakes! When coloring lots of images to create a scene, I like to select a single color palette and use those same colors on all of the images to make sure that each of the elements on the card work together to create a cohesive scene. After I had colored the images, I used some sparkling handmade watercolors to add shimmering accents to the sprinkles and stars, then covered them with some Hero Arts Clear Lacquer Pen. This clear lacquer not only adds additional shine and texture, but also protects that shimmery watercolor to keep it from smearing!

After I had colored each of the images, I die cut them using their coordinating dies and used a black alcohol marker to outline the edges. I wanted to use one of the new Black Scored Card Bases and didn’t want the white outlines of the dies to detract from my vibrant and intense color palette, and quickly outlining the die cuts was a super easy way to keep my color palette consistent throughout the card. I splattered the background with some iridescent orange glitter watercolors to add some extra shimmer and texture to the background.

For the greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from the Spooky Sweets onto some black cardstock using Iridescent Copper embossing powder and die cut it with the coordinating die. I also used a leftover greeting strip from the Witch, Please sentiment cards that I had run through my Minc Machine using the Simon Says Stamp Orange DecoFoil. I arranged all of the die cuts and greeting components on my splattered card front and adhered them using foam adhesive. Finally, I added a smattering of Royal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to tie in the royal blue accents!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I am loving this unusual Halloween color combo… it’s always fun to switch things up and think outside the typical color palette box! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Ocean Inspiration with New Simon Says Stamp Sunny Vibes!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am back with some more inspiration using some of the gorgeous summery products from the new Sunny Vibes release! I am really loving the new toner-printed cards with each release; they make customizing your projects with your choice of shiny foil super simple! I particularly loved the new options that are printed on acetate. You could quickly make a super fun and unique shaker card window with these clear, printed sheets, but I chose to use the foiled background as an overlay for a somber, ocean-themed “thinking of you” card. Let’s get started with the details!

I started by hot foiling one of the clear Acetate Seashells Toner Foil Acetate Sheets using Glass Slipper DecoFoil. This iridescent turquoise foil is absolutely gorgeous and worked perfectly with the ocean vibe I envisioned! I used the same foil with the Bad Day, Good Vibes Toner Foil sentiment cards and Beachcombing Toner Foil image cards. The Beachcombing Toner Foil image cards coordinate perfectly with the images in the Beachcombing stamp and die product suite! Isn’t it amazing when all of the products work seamlessly together?

To enhance the background behind my acetate panel, I blended some Surf and Sky Pawsitively Saturated Inks around the edge of an A2 panel of white cardstock, then splattered the blended areas with some sparkling, iridescent watercolors. I also used Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Surf, Ocean, Sky, and Flannel to stamp the details on the foiled Beachcombing Toner Foil image cards, then die cut them with the coordinating dies.

To keep the clear foiled background nice and clean, I arranged the sentiment strips and ocean die cuts over the top of the foiled panel before adhering it to my blended background. I adhered all of the die cut pieces to the acetate panel with dimensional foam squares, then flipped the panel over and added liquid adhesive behind the solid die cuts and placed it directly over the top of the blended background. Finally, I added a few sparkling Surf Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for added shimmer and shine!

Well, that’s all for my project today! The new Sunny Vibes release is available, and we will be hopping along this weekend to share tons of inspiration using the beautiful new products, so be sure to come back later this week! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Revolutionary New Tools to Up Your Cardmaking Results!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I was recently thinking about how long I’ve been papercrafting, nearly 15 years at this point, and I remarked to my husband how many more fun tools we now have to use to create unique and professional-looking projects. Hot foil, letter press, toner foil, and of course, the MISTI… there are so many interesting new (ish) innovations to take our cardmaking from fantastic to spectacular! When I started stamping, it was just acrylic blocks and some flash-in-the-pan newfangled tools that didn’t really stand the test of time, but I feel like over the last five or so years, the quality of the new tools has increased exponentially, and the quality of our cards has increased with them! Case in point: the Minc machine. This fantastic machine is not exactly new, but companies have recently stated giving us marvelous options to use with it. Simon Says Stamp has been building their collection of Toner Hot Foil prints lately, and the new Diamond Circles Foil Transfer Cards is amongst my favorite. The print is so classy and neutral, perfect for use with tons of different focal points and subjects. Let’s get started with the details on my card!

I got hooked on foiling the CZ Design sentiment cards from Simon Says Stamp several months ago, and so scoured the website for toner foil in unique shades beyond the typical metallics. I found that DecoFoil has some utterly divine foil colors, including the Prince Periwinkle DecoFoil. This metallic periwinkle foil is iridescent, so can be paired with a number of different color palettes. I paired Prince Periwinkle DecoFoil with the new Diamond Circles Foil Transfer Cards, running the card through my Minc machine with some Prince Periwinkle foil. When I peeled the foil away, it was like magic, with that gorgeous background print beautifully foiled and a perfect canvas to do some ink blending. I also foiled some sentiments from the new Congratulations toner foil cards set to create some coordinating elements for my card.

After foiling my background, I trimmed down the foiled panel so that I could mat it with an A2-sized panel of deep eggplant cardstock. I then used blending brushes to blend Petunia & Pansy Pawsitively Saturated Inks around the edges of the foiled panel to pick up the pretty purple tones in the iridescent foiled image. I mounted the finished blended background on an A2 eggplant card front, creating a crisp frame around the edges of the panel.

For the greeting, I die cut the Large Fancy Happy Birthday from some pearlescent white cardstock. (Coated and specialty cardstocks in a multitude of colors are another newer innovation that make cardmaking so much more fun and make the results so much more professional looking!) I trimmed down one of my coordinating foiled greeting strips from the Congratulations toner foil card set and popped both greeting components up in the center of my foiled and blended panel using foam squares. Finally, I added a bit more shine with some Lilac Pawsitively Dazzling Gems, which are made of glass and are delightfully sparkly!

Well, that’s all for my project today. You can check out all of the new toner foil cards from the Celebrate release HERE; there are so many marvelous options to see! What cardmaking innovation has taken your cardmaking to the next level? Are there any products that you purchased that you thought you would use more than you do? I want to know!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Here’s To What’s Next, Grad!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I have a pair of projects to share with you today using some of the new graduation-themed goodies from the Simon Says Stamp Celebrate release from last week! Graduation season is upon us, and we have reached the age where relatives who were tiny kids when my husband and I met are now full-fledged adults (well, sort of, ha) and are graduating from high school and college! (Off to check out the white hairs sparkling at my temples, be right back!) Our local high school colors are maroon and white, and so I thought I would create a pair of projects using the new Grad Cover Plate and the new Grad foil transfer cards. Let’s get started on the details!

Who doesn’t love a shaker card, right? Even a teenager might be tempted to shake shake shake when presented with some shiny sequins (and some cash)! The new Grad Cover Plate cuts the letters out of a die cut rectangle, creating a negative space that is perfect for use with tons of different techniques. Paper piecing, ink blending, stenciling, etc! I chose to back my white die cut with some acetate, creating a perfect window for a shaker. This card would be super simple to customize to your graduate’s school colors, too!

I started by die cutting the Grad Cover Plate from some plain white cardstock, reserving the center of the R, O, and A die cuts. I adhered some clear acetate behind my die cut and used Simon Says Stamp Foam Adhesive Strips to add some foam adhesive in a continuous line around the edge of the the back of the die cut, which creates the space to fill my shaker card with sequins. I added a shimmering frame, cut using the A2 Nesting Frames dies with gold glitter cardstock, then accented it with some Hero Arts 5 Point Star Infinity Die cuts cut from gold mirror cardstock.

To add a little extra texture behind the shaker window die cut, I ran a panel of deep marron cardstock through my die cut machine with the Imperia Plate. This plate pierces a textured pattern into the cardstock, which makes it a beautiful and simple way to embellish a plain background, adding a little extra interest behind your focal point. I filled my shaker with Candy Hearts sequins, which coordinated beautifully with my color scheme. Simon Says Stamp stocks so many different colors of confetti sequin packs that you are sure to find a color that coordinates with your graduate’s school colors! I love the simplicity of this card… you could even mass produce this one for a graduation announcement, simplifying it by removing the shaker part and just having the die cut window. So many different options!

What graduate doesn’t like a little extra cash or gift card? I created this gift card holder by first die cutting the Gift Card Pocket Envelope from some plain white cardstock, then cutting a separate cardstock rectangle the same size as the front panel and running it through my die cutting machine with the new Shimmering Starfall embossing folder. Using a separate panel of cardstock helps to add that texture without making the gift card holder difficult to fold and put together. I ran the new Grad foil transfer cards through my Minc machine with Simon Says Stamp’s Yellow DecoFoil toner foil and used my sharp scissors to cut them out. I added another gold glitter cardstock frame cut with the A2 Nesting Frames dies on top of the embossed background panel, then popped up the greeting pieces with some foam squares. I added a few more shiny gold foil stars cut using the Hero Arts 5 Point Star Infinity Dies and gold mirror cardstock to finish the project off!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I love the simplicity of cards made using only die cuts; they’re so easy to customize and would be super simple to mass produce, which is perfect for an occasion like high school graduation! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Deco Foil + Deco Foil Gel + NEW Simon Says Stamp Stencils!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! The new Simon Says Stamp Be Bold release is available, and it’s such a stunner! I am always especially intrigued when companies release new tools, and so was very eager to play with the new Deco Foil foil sheets in lovely metallic shades. These new foil sheets work specifically with toner-printed images, like those on the Mom Foil Transfer Cards, or with foil-reactive gel, like the Decofoil Gel. I employed both uses for this project, and I am so pleased with the results! Let’s get started with the details on my project.

I first used Decofoil Gel for THIS project and loved the results so much that I wanted to experiment to see what else I could create! I decided to try it out on a panel of acetate to create really unique look, pairing it with the new Lattice Tile stencil for an elegant background. I started by adhering my A2 panel of heat resistant acetate to a piece of scratch paper (I didn’t want to use one of the stamp mats that I normally use with stencils so as to avoid marring it with the gel… wasn’t sure how well it would clean off of the photopolymer!) then placed the Lattice Tile stencil over the top and used a palette knife to apply the Decofoil Gel. Unlike my previous project using this gel, which took about an hour to dry on regular cardstock, something about the combination of the acetate and the gel made it take longer to dry. I allowed the panel to sit for a full 24 hours so that it was completely dry before using it with foil.

After the gel was completely dry, I used the new Simon Says Stamp Bronze Decofoil with my Minc machine to add luxurious shine to the acetate panel. I absolutely love the results! I think next time I will select a stencil that has more open areas so that the unique clear spots would be more readily visible. While I had my Minc out and hot, I foiled a couple of the Mom Foil Transfer Cards with Bronze Decofoil so that the two foiled pieces would coordinate beautifully!

I find that a pretty, simple, repetitive pattern is a great backdrop for flowers, and of course couldn’t wait to dive into the beautiful florals int he Wild & Free Flowers set. I stamped the large single flower with Contour Ink, then used Copic markers to color the flowers a lush blue, almost like something out of a fairytale. For the flower stamens, I used some handmade glitter watercolors in a coordinating shade of bronze, tying the three main design elements together. I die cut the flower with the super intricate coordinating die. I absolutely adore dies like this that are super detailed!

To accent the flower, I die cut a set of the A2 Nesting Frames from some iridescent white mirror cardstock, trimming down my foiled acetate panel so that it would fit perfectly behind one of the frames. I popped this frame up on an A2 card front using some foam adhesive strips, which were the perfect width for the frames in the A2 Nesting Frames set. I arranged the colorful flower and foiled sentiments on the foiled background, popping them up with another layer of foam adhesive for lots of dimension. Finally, I added a white bow and a few new Royal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems.

SO much sparkle and shine on this card. I can’t wait to play more with this technique! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and be sure to check out the new Be Bold release. There’s a blog hop on Friday and Saturday featuring tons of new inspiration using the new release products, as well, so keep your eyes peeled for that! Have a marvelous day, friends!